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The Idealisation of Therapy: Fantasy versus Reality in Clinical Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

A. S. Powell
A. S. Powell*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford; Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 7JX
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Abstract

In this paper, object-relations theory is used to illuminate problems encountered in the psychotherapeutic management of severely disturbed psychiatric patients. The hazards of idealisation of the psychiatrist by the patient are reported in four case histories. Attention is drawn to the subsequent breakthrough of negative feelings where idealisation had been unrecognised or unwittingly encouraged. Some implications for the more successful management of the transference in patients such as these are discussed.

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Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 6 , December 1991 , pp. 850 - 856
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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